


A More Savage Narnia (Then The One You Left)

by Deliahscrush2003



Series: Once A King and Queen Of Narnia, Always A King and Queen [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Archery, Aslan's How, BAMF Edmund Pevensie, BAMF Lucy Pevensie, BAMF Peter Pevensie, BAMF Susan Pevensie, Book/Movie: Prince Caspian, Cair Paravel, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Epic Battles, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Feels, Fighting, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Memories, Once a King or Queen of Narnia Always a King or Queen of Narnia, POV Alternating, POV Original Female Character, POV Susan Pevensie, POV Third Person Plural, Platonic Romance, Protective Siblings, Protective Susan, Queen Susan The Gentle - Freeform, References to The Golden Age, Royalty, Strong Female Characters, Susan Pevensie Feels Things, Susan Pevensie-centric, Susan is A Bit OOC, Teenagers, Training, War, War camp, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:22:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27077200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deliahscrush2003/pseuds/Deliahscrush2003
Summary: The King and Queens of Old are brought back to Narnia after mysteriously disappearing thirteen hundred years ago. They find a much savage Narnia than the one they had left.Under the control of Telmarines and ruling with an iron fists, Miraz, Lord Protector of the throne, orders for his nephew, Caspian the Tenth, to be killed in the dead of night after his wife had borne him a son.Prince Caspian flees with the aid of his tutor and friend, Doctor Cornelius. But he doesn't escape the castle alone.His cousin, the firstborn daughter of Miraz, Lady Sylvia, accompanies him as he flees to the woods and in doing so, joins Caspian in claiming their destiny. When the two Telmarine nobles meet the four royals of Old, they come together to liberate Narnia and to give it back to it's people.
Relationships: Caspian/Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Once A King and Queen Of Narnia, Always A King and Queen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976179
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	A More Savage Narnia (Then The One You Left)

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling nostalgic so I binged watched the Narnia movies and this happened. Just to be clear, this is just me indulging in a childhood favorite and I know it's not compliant to the books so I apologize if this offends any of you book lovers out there. There will be some notable differences, for example, the characters will be aged up:
> 
> Caspian - he was 13 in the books, he will be 16 -17.  
> Peter - he was 14 in the books, he will be 17.  
> Susan - she was 13 in the books, she will be 16.  
> Edmund - he was 11 in the books, she will be 14.  
> Sylvia - is my OC, Caspian's younger cousin so she will be 14.  
> Lucy - she was 9 in the books, she will be 11.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, setting or a majority of the plot. Those rights belong to C.S Lewis and the creators of the Narnia movies. This is purely for entertainment purposes.
> 
> I hope you enjoy and without further ado - 
> 
> To Narnia!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Will we ever see you again, Professor?" Sylvia asked quietly, her eyes tearing up at the thought that this would be the last time she would look upon the man who had taught them so much. 
> 
> "I dearly hope so, my Lady," Doctor Cornelius replied warmly, patting her hand, "Take care of your cousin. You know his importance." 
> 
> She nodded and tightened her hold on Caspian. The old man nodded at her before turning to Caspian with a watery smile, squeezing the older boy's arm as he told him, "There is so much more I meant to tell you, to teach you. I only ask that you remember the promise you made me, when you were a born. Be a good king. Stay true to yourself and your people." 
> 
> "King?" Caspian frowned. 
> 
> Doctor Cornelius took in the bewildered expressions on their face and nodded as he stepped back, "Everything you know is about to change."

A Narnian night was pitch black except for the full, pale moon that shone brightly down on the land. Lady Sylvia sat at the open window in her quarters, her dark curls unpinned and left blowing in the gentle breeze that swept through the sweet smelling air. She hummed under her breathe as she watched the high tower with keen eyes as yet another agonizing scream pierced the previously silent night before trailing off into low groans. 

Sylvia sat forward, her hands braced against the window as she wondered wistfully, I wonder if I have a little brother or sister? 

She was content, for a moment, to pretend like the news wouldn't threaten her life as she knew it. That was, until the door to her chambers creaked open and she turned to see Doctor Cornelius inching his way inside. He wore a dark blue cloak that covered his frizzy white hair and beard as he turned to her with a grim expression, his spectacles glimmering in the candlelight. 

Eager to know what information he had gathered, she leapt off the window ledge and bounded over to him. 

"So? Has the baby arrived? Professor?" 

Doctor Cornelius laid a gentle, wizened hand on her shoulder and sighed, "I'm afraid so, my Lady. And you know what this means." 

Sylvia scrunched up her nose in confusion before she realized what he was implying and shook her head in denial. 

"My father - he _wouldn’t_ \- " 

"I wish I could agree with you, child, but the order has already been given." 

Sylvia let out a shuddering gasp, her small hands coming up to grasp her nightgown over her heart. She had hoped that there would be another way, a peaceful path in her father's cunning, that the man who sired her might let himself feel mercy for their shared blood but alas, it was not to be. This course did not surprise her, merely causing her to nod, resigned at the turn of events, before turning on her heel and making her way over to her wardrobe. 

Flinging the door open with a building urgency, she took out the small knack sack that laid at the foot of the wardrobe and pulled her travelling cloak from the high shelf. The girl threw it around herself, pulling up the hood as she joined Doctor Cornelius by the door. The old man looked both ways before leading her down the empty corridor towards her cousin's chambers. She cringed as her bare feet pitter pattered against the cool stone floor and kept a steady hold on his cloak as they hurried along. 

They came to a stop before a black steel door and the old man pushed it open gently, peering inside before ushering her in before him. 

While Doctor Cornelius crept over to her cousin's bed, she opened his wardrobe to reveal the secret back inside and slipped on an old pair of boots that no longer fit him. She craned her head over her shoulder to see her cousin's silhouette struggle against the old man before he realized who held him. 

She walked over to stand by the old man's side, sending her cousin a wobbly smile as his eyes drifted from her to the Doctor Cornelius before he took the man's hand off his mouth with an eye roll and mumbled, "Five more minutes." 

"You won't be watching the stars tonight, my Prince," Doctor Cornelius told him in a rushed whisper, his eyes darting towards the door, "Neither of you will. Come. We must hurry." 

Caspian turned at the panic in the Professor's voice and let him pull him up from the bed. Sylvia followed them with another pair of boots and a travelling cloak for her cousin as the old man led Caspian to the wardrobe. 

"Professor, what's going on?" Caspian asked quizzically, his voice taking a worried edge at the sudden urgency. 

"Your aunt has given birth," the Doctor Cornelius informed him somberly, "To a son." 

Caspian reared back at that and met Sylvia's eyes from over his shoulder. She nodded darkly, swallowing hard. Her cousin inhaled sharply, turning back to the door. Sylvia pushed him forward after the Professor, who waited at the end of the passageway for them both. 

" _Go_ , Caspian." 

He hurried inside, holding the door open for her so she could squeeze in beside him before shutting it behind her both. She walked around him to stand with Doctor Cornelius but when she turned to see if Caspian was following her, she found him kneeling on the wardrobe floor, watching through a crack in the door. 

She made to go forward and pull him after her but Doctor Cornelius stopped her, his eyes narrowed on the older boy as he whispered to her, "No. He needs to see." 

It was silent, except for a rogue boot scuffing against stone. Then the crossbow bolts fired. Two rounds, presumably aimed at the great canopy bed her cousin had been sleeping in only moments before. 

When they stopped, the old man let her go and she inched forward, sliding a hand onto her cousin's shoulder to pull him back. He didn’t fight her, merely turning in her grasp and getting to his feet. She took him by the hand and pulled him along as the Professor disappeared down a winding staircase that opened into the Armory. 

"Arm yourselves. Both of you," the old man commanded and Caspian immediately went for the black leather armor and chainmail, picking out a long sword and a sheath. 

Doctor Cornelius took Sylvia by the arm, leading her to where the bow and quivers were hung up on the far wall. He pulled one down for her and strapped them on with a sad smile as he said, "These will do just fine. You remember what I told you, yes?" 

"Pull back with an even arm. Take a deep breathe before releasing. Aim true," she recited seriously, closing her eyes as he patted her head in satisfaction. 

"Good, good." 

They turned to Caspian as he walked over to join them and she handed him his travelling cloak and boots that she had nicked before leaving his chambers. He nodded his gratitude and sat down to pull them on. They only had a moment before they heard the distant shouts of guards, and Doctor Cornelius quickly led them out of the Armory towards the stables. 

Sylvia struggled to run alongside them with the sudden weight on her back. Caspian noticed, holding out his hand to help her along. When they made it to the stables, the old man headed for where her cousin's horse, Destrier, was already saddled and waiting. The black horse whinnied at the sight of his young master and Caspian immediately rushed to quieten him down. 

Doctor Cornelius urged them up and onto the horse. Caspian swung himself up first before extending his arm to her, helping her climb up and on behind him. 

"You must make for the woods," the old man instructed them seriously as he adjusted the saddle and the reins. 

"The _woods_?" Caspian repeated, uncertain if he had heard correctly. 

Sylvia shook her head at the old man, her face pale as she told him, "The woods are cursed. Any who dare enter them are never seen again!" 

"Which is why they won't follow you there," Doctor Cornelius responded before turning to Caspian, digging through his bag at his side and pulling out a white, ivory horn, "It has taken me many years to find this." 

Caspian took it from him, inspecting it with furrowed brows before passing it to Sylvia to put into the saddlebag. Sylvia marveled at the fine craftsmanship, tracing the features of the roaring lion as a memory tugged at her to remember. There was something very important about this horn, it was on the tip of her tongue - 

Suddenly, Doctor Cornelius reached out to grasp Caspian's arm urgingly, warning him in a low voice, "Do not use it except at your greatest need." 

"Will we ever see you again, Professor?" Sylvia asked quietly, her eyes tearing up at the thought that this would be the last time she would look upon the man who had taught them so much. 

"I dearly hope so, my Lady," Doctor Cornelius replied warmly, patting her hand, "Take care of your cousin. You know his importance." 

She nodded and tightened her hold on Caspian. The old man nodded at her before turning to Caspian with a watery smile, squeezing the older boy's arm as he told him, "There is so much more I meant to tell you, to teach you. I only ask that you remember the promise you made me, when you were a born. Be a good king. Stay true to yourself and your people." 

"King?" Caspian frowned. 

Doctor Cornelius took in the bewildered expressions on their face and nodded as he stepped back, "Everything you know is about to change." 

As the sound of horses whinnying grew closer, the old man sent a great slap to the horse's flank to urge Destrier on. The horse let out a neigh before charging out of the stables and into the courtyard. There were many servants milling around, spreading the news of the birth of the Lord Protector's son, but they all turned to watch as the Prince and his Lady cousin rode past on his horse. 

Guards started running to stop them and Sylvia caught sight of two crossed spears, surely intended to knock them off and she cried out. Caspian shouted to her over his shoulder, " **HOLD ON!** " 

She did as she was told, burying her face into his back and squeezing her eyes shut. Caspian rode on and when he was close enough, plucked the spear out of the guardsman's hands, using it to push the other spear away from where it almost grazed Sylvia before finally sending it into a pit of fire as they rode over the drawbridge. 

The sound of fireworks caused Sylvia to pull back, watching as the castle behind her illuminated in bright green, pink and purple. She found that they were almost over the bridge and let out a sigh of relief. Destrier reared at the loud, popping sounds and Sylvia yelped, clutching Caspian tightly as she started to slip back. 

Caspian rubbed the horse's snout to calm him down and craned his head behind him. They heard an order to summon all the guards and the sounds of horses growing closer. 

"Cousin, if you have forgotten how to ride, tell me now so that one of us can get us out of here alive!" Sylvia cried out as she saw the silver armor of the soldiers glinting from the drawbridge. 

Caspian clicked his tongue and sent Destrier off again, yelling back at her, "Sylvia, keep your head down and your shoulders as small as possible!" 

"I'm not a child, Caspian!" 

"I'm not saying it so you don't see what's happening. I'm saying it so that if they have any archers with them, you don't present yourself a bigger target!" 

"Ohhh, good thinking!" 

She did as he said, and tightened her legs against Destrier's flank, using her cousin's travelling cloak to hide her position. His heart beat furiously under her ears and she heard hers to the point where she thought it might beat out of her mouth. 

Destrier increased his speed, telling her that they had reached the country side and she raised her head. The city grew smaller behind her, only visible by the firework show from the castle. When she turned back around, she saw with dark foreboding the great expense of woods ahead and felt panic climb her throat as they grew closer and closer. 

"I think I may look away now!" she muttered in Caspian's ear, squeezing her eyes shut as he urged Destrier on faster, his face set in determination as his eyes narrowed on the woods. The rumors of the cursed wood disappeared from his mind as he focused on getting himself and Sylvia away from the men on their tail. 

"Close your eyes and think only good things," he advised his younger cousin as Destrier's hooves leaped over the boundary where the tree line met the clearing, the woods seemingly curving around them as if to bring them further into it's dark embrace. 

Sylvia closed her eyes and thought of good things. Of the way toast tasted when the butter melted just right. Of the way the sun lit up the trees in the distance, causing even the great and terrible forest to look beautiful in the early hours of the morning and evening. Of the way Caspian laughed when Doctor Cornelius told one of his stories, his pale eyes glittering warmly down on the two children as they sat forward, eagerly waiting to hear more. She thought of her mother's embrace and the rare moments her father would look at her with something akin to pride. 

She thought of many good things as Caspian rode through the dark forest and up the tall hills and through the marshes and across the river. Destrier rode strong and fast through it all, even as the horse breathed out in wretched takes. 

"Sylvia. _Sylvia_?! Are they still behind us!?" Caspian asked her, craning his head to see if she were alright. 

She lifted her head to reply but caught sight of the coming tree branch and she pulled him back with a scream, " **CASPIAN, LOOK OUT!** " 

The tree branch was too close for him to dodge it and it hit him square in the nose, knocking him back into Sylvia and sending them both flying off the horse and onto the ground. Sylvia hit the ground on her back, knocking the air out of her and sending her wheezing. The knack sack that she tied around her wrist for safe keeping had hit her stomach with a _omph!_ Her bow and quiver dug into her back and there was an odd crook in her neck that made her hesitant to turn it even slightly to see where her cousin had landed. 

She stayed like that for a few moments, breathing in through her mouth and wiggling her fingers and toes to see if anything was broken. Upon finding no pain, she tried rolling onto her side to pull out the quiver and bow that were sticking into her back. 

"For heavens sake, Caspian, look where you're going next time!" she groaned, rubbing at her forehead where he had smacked her on his way down. 

Caspian's own reply was a grunt as he heaved himself up with an arm to his stomach. Sylvia shook her head at him before looking around, feeling her body stiffen as she took in their surroundings. The trees were dark as they loomed over them both, so still that even the leaves looked like they stopped blowing to look down upon them. But the most eerie thing about the woods surrounding them was how quiet it was. There were no birds chirping in a happy song, nor leaves crunching under the paws of squirrels and the like. Dead silence was all that greeted them as the two Telmarines looked around. 

"Where do you suppose we are?" Caspian asked off-handedly. 

Sylvia raised a brow at him and replied sarcastically, "I'm not sure, Caspian, let me just get out the detailed map that shows the ins and outs of the forest that no one has been in for hundreds of years!" 

He threw her an annoyed look before returning to his observations. A low creak rang out suddenly from behind them and they scrambled back into each other as a wooden panel between the roots of a great tree opened, revealing an amber glow from inside. 

Two creatures raced out with sharp swords and Sylvia gasped as she clung to her cousin's arm. The creatures paused in shock, exchanging apprehensive looks as Sylvia breathed to Caspian, "Are you seeing this?!" 

Her cousin didn’t reply, merely gaping in shock at the two creatures as one of them muttered, "They've seen us." 

Caspian whipped his head around for a weapon to defend them both with before his eyes caught on the sword that had tumbled down with him when they were knocked off the horse. One of the creatures, a fair haired and heavily beard fellow, lunged forward with his sword hefted high above his head in a menacing manner before stopping a few feet away, his eyes settling on the horn on the ground a bit away from Sylvia's hands. 

Caspian, Sylvia and the short creature all shared edged glances between the horn and each other. The creature turned back to his companion at the trunk of the tree as if asking for advice when the sound of hooves stomping the ground drifted to them. The children exchanged panicked glances and Caspian immediately jumped around to crouch in front of Sylvia. 

The creature in front of them growled out, "Take care of them!" before racing off to face the approaching soldiers armed with only himself and a sword that barely came up to a horse's neck. 

Sylvia instinctively lunged to stop him before Caspian caught her around the waist, the girl gasping out a warning with one hand outstretched pleadingly as if the gesture alone could halt him. 

" ** _NO!_ STOP! THEY'LL _KILL_ YOU!**" 

"I'd worry about yourself, girlie," the other creature sneered as he approached them and Caspian shoved her behind him, scrambling for the horn. 

_Do not use it except at your greatest need_ , Doctor Cornelius had told him. 

With Telmarine soldiers closing in one side and a small creature coming forth to attack them with a knife on the other, Caspian saw no time greater need than now to call for help. 

With that, he started forward and brought the horn to his lips, blowing deeply so that even the stars above would have no choice but to hear his call. 

\- 

#### Meanwhile, in England.

Susan Pevensie stood at the front of a newspaper stand, her expression troubled as she flipped through the printed pages of the Sunday Post for what news the war brought to them. The traffic behind her honked and jittered lively for a Sunday morning but she figured that in times such as these, everybody wanted to preserve the illusion of a happy and carefree life. 

It reminded Susan of the war camps in Narnia, where the nymphs would come down from the rolling hills of the valley to dance among them, the fauns playing their lutes and fiddles and singing Narnian songs to the rowdy soldiers and the kings and queens of old. In times of war, she had never felt more closer to her people than when she was sitting amongst them with a fire burning brightly in the middle and the ribbing and taunts of duels and challenges over playful jokes that were washed down with good mead and the spicy faun wine that seemed _imperative_ to be present despite the battle on the coming dawn. 

_Happier times when happier times seemed impossible._

Sometimes she thought she left happier times back in the wardrobe, back in Narnia. Ever since her and her siblings had found the lamp post and made their way back to Spare Oom, she felt like she left a part of herself back in the world of white witches and great lions. 

Now, dressed in a burgundy school blazer with her hair plaited back neatly, she tried her best to grow accustomed to living in the mundane world once again. It was not as easy as she made it look. 

Someone moved up beside her and when she glanced up, she found a boy dressed in the same uniform as her brothers shuffling nervously beside her, his eyes blinking at her from behind his circular glasses. She turned away, assuming that he wanted to read the paper after she was done and returned to scouring the pages for information about the increase in air raids in England. 

"You go to St Finbars." 

It wasn't a question. He said it with confidence, at least the only confidence this boy seemed to possess, anyway. Susan gave him a tight smile and nodded. 

"That's right." 

"I go to Hendon House. Across the road." 

Susan raised her brows and turned away, hoping that was the extent to the conversation he wanted to have with her. Unfortunately, even though she was no longer in Narnia, she still encountered a similar problem that seemed to follow her no matter what world she found herself in. Men's inability to take a hint. 

"I've see you, you know?" he started and when she deigned to look up at him, she found him smiling at her bashfully. He was quite an earnest boy and she felt slightly rude for turning away from him. However, she regretted acknowledging him at all when he added, "Sitting by yourself." 

She was quite taken back at that and stared down at the paper in her hands, her fingers pressed firmly against the pages. She once remembered a time when her fingers were curled around bowstrings and arrows instead and felt put off by the conversation entirely. Placing the newspaper back down on the stand, she turned to him with the intent of finishing the conversation as politely as she could. 

"Yes, well, I prefer to be left _alone_." 

It was a clear message. She was careful not to explicitly mention him in connotation to it but it was also direct on who she was and what she preferred to be doing at that very moment. Unfortunately, the boy did not gather this and instead nodded along eagerly. 

"Me too!" 

Susan's eyes flickered up to give the street a deadpan look. 

"What's your name?" the boy asked cheerfully. 

She inclined her head and plastered on the smile she used to wear for ambassadors and diplomats and the rude prince or two and lied through her pearly white teeth, "Phyllis." 

" **SUSAN!** " 

Internally groaning, she spun around with furrowed brows as Lucy came scampering up to her, huffing and puffing out of breathe with her suitcase in hand. 

"Lucy? What are you doing? I thought I told you to stay with the boys!" 

"You better come quickly." 

Her younger sister had that look in her eye when something truly exasperating had occurred and Susan sighed. Nodding at the boy in farewell, she picked up her suitcase and ran across the street with Lucy, looking both ways to dodge around the cars. They rushed down the steps of the underground station where the sound of children cheering reached their ears, " **FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!** " and rolled her eyes. 

Suddenly, the exasperated look in Lucy's eyes made sense and she knew instinctively who was at the root of all this. Lucy reached back behind her to pull Susan along as they squeezed through the small bodies of their schoolmates and the boys from the school across the road from them and came to a stop once they had a clear view of the scene before them. 

At the bottom of the steps, three boys were struggling to keep their hold on a fourth boy, with golden blonde hair and a uniform that looked worse for wear. To his credit, the blonde boy looked to be giving them a hard time as he thrashed in their grasp and when they turned him to face the crowd, Susan's shoulders slouched and she shook her head in disappointment. 

Peter Pevensie, their eldest brother, tilted his head back at her as if to say 'what was I supposed to do?'. Grunting, he used all his weight to slam the boy on his right against the wall. One of the boys had fallen back from the elbow he had gotten to the nose and was holding his face as blood dripped from under his hands. The boy who had been on his left side regained his grip and used the wall to corner him, bringing up his knee to meet the blonde boy's ribs over and over again. 

Peter wrapped his fists in the shirt of the boy who he slammed against the wall and threw him over his shoulder and into the boy who had been kneeing him, but he didn’t get much of a break before the boy who's nose he _definently_ broke came and slammed his head into the wall, holding it there while his mates recovered. 

Suddenly, Susan was shoved aside as a boy with dark hair ran past her and she threw her hands up in frustration as her younger brother, Edmund, jumped into the fray without any hesitation. 

" **Edmund!** " Lucy shouted after him, watching him as he tackled one of the boys to the floor, sending a punch to his face that knocked his head back with the force of it. 

He got to his feet and spun on the other boy that held his brother, tearing him off with a grunt and wrestling him to the ground once more. The boy that he first attacked had recovered and had helped his mate throw Peter on the floor where the platform met the gaping tracks below, forcing the blonde boy's head over the train tracks. 

Edmund jumped on the one with the boot to Peter's back and rolled him to the floor, the boy struggling to get out from underneath him while Peter had rolled onto his back to deal with the boy trying to secure his grip on his head. Edmund managed to get a final punch in on the kid he was dealing with before a whistle blew out sharply amongst the screams and cheers from the children. 

Everybody scattered at the sight of the soldiers approaching and Edmund threw the boy away from him in favor of helping Peter stand up. The soldier shoved them forward with a rough, "Act your age," before letting them walk on. 

With one last glare at the three boys they had been fighting, the Pevensie brothers shuffled over to where their sisters had set down their belongings, Susan waiting for them with her arms crossed over her chest and her signature look of disapproval on her face. 

"Don't start," Peter grumbled to her as he sat down next to Lucy, his youngest sister rubbing his arm in a form of comfort. Alas, it did nothing to remove the grumpy look on his face. 

Edmund slumped down on the other side of him, muttering sarcastically, "You're welcome." 

"I had it sorted," Peter threw back at him as he got to his feet again, facing the tracks. He was still on edge from the fight, the urge to hit, to kick, to roar out in anger flooding his veins as blood pumped hard throughout his entire body. The adrenaline gripped him in the way he flexed his fingers, in the way the blood rushed to his cheeks, in the way his teeth grounded together, one of Susan's pet peeves. 

"What was it this time?" she drawled unimpressed as she came to sit down on the edge of the chair. 

"He bumped me," Peter replied nonchalantly, turning around and meeting her scolding look head on. 

Lucy's brows hit her hairline as she cried out, "So you _hit_ him?!" 

" _No._ After he bumped me, they tried to make _me_ apologize," Peter looked away from them to glare at nothing in particular as he emphasized, " _That's_ when I hit him." 

Susan rolled her eyes between her two brothers as she huffed, "Really? Is it _that_ hard just to walk away?" 

"I shouldn't have to!" Peter exclaimed, sending her an outraged look, "I mean, don't you ever get tired of being treated like a _kid_?" 

Edmund took great amusement in reminding his older brother, "Um, we _are_ kids." 

Peter cried out, "I wasn't always!" 

The siblings fell silent at the vicious reminder of exactly how difficult it had been to return back to mundane world. It wasn't just that they left Narnia - they left their entire lives back in that wardrobe. They had lived a life back in that wardrobe. 

Peter had grown into the prime of kingship, a man of thirty three years when they had rode out from Cair Paravel after the legendary White Stag. Susan had only been a year younger, a woman of great beauty and envy, not just in their kingdom but in others from distant lands. Although Edmund and Lucy were younger than them, they too had grown to become young adults, treated and respected as such. They had waged wars, led armies, led their kingdom for _fifteen years_ before they unwittingly stumbled back out of that wardrobe and into the Spare Room, kids once more. 

They understood Peter's anger, his longing for that feeling that Narnia gave them. Of belonging. 

Peter shook his head as he kicked out with his shoe, his hands stuffed into his trouser pockets as he told them quietly, hurt ringing clear in his voice, "It's been a year. How long does He expect us to wait?" 

He sank back down in between Edmund and Lucy. Susan swallowed hard before leaning forward. 

"I think it's time to accept that we live _here_. It's no use pretending any different." 

The words were like acid on her tongue but they needed to be said. It would only be more painful for them to continue holding on to the hope that another doorway would open to them. She glanced down at Lucy beside her and her eyes softened. She didn’t want her sister to grow up longing for a world that they might never return to, not if the same hurt that sat on Susan's shoulders would one day burden hers. 

The boys didn’t say a word and she thanked them for not trying to argue with her, although a small part of her would admit to feeling disappointment. She had made it a habit to be right about everything that she said but she didn’t want to be right about _this_. 

Sighing deeply, she turned her eyes down the platform and contented herself to waiting for the train in silence. That was, until she caught sight of the boy from Hendon House walking in their direction, his eyes straining to look at her from over the heads of their respective schoolmates. 

" _Oh no!_ " Susan groaned, whipping around quickly to look at her siblings, "Pretend you're talking to me." 

Edmund's brow twitched quizzically as he pointed out, "We _are_ talking to you." 

Her lips curled up in a dry smirk and he smiled back at her innocently until Lucy suddenly sprang up, crying out in pain, " **OW!** " 

Her cry echoed in the tunnels and Susan glanced around to see if anyone had noticed before she scolded her gently, " _Quiet_ , Lu!" 

Lucy pointed to the bench, rubbing her leg as she told them, "Something pinched me!" 

Then Peter sprang up, spinning around to glare at Edmund as he shouted, " _Hey_ , stop pulling!" 

Edmund reared back in confusion as he shouted back defensively, "I'm not touching you!" 

"Would all of you _just_ \- " Susan rolled her eyes at all of them before she felt the sensation of her skin stretching and jumped up to join them in shock, "What is that?" 

The train went past in a blur of rusted red, bringing along with it a strong gust of wind that swept through their hair and uniforms. Susan's skin tingled all over, a warm and familiar feeling settling into her stomach and chest as the pulling sensation increased. 

"It feels like - " 

"Magic!" Lucy grinned up at her, excitement glittering in her soft brown eyes. 

Susan's heart seized in hope but it warred with the skepticism in her mind and she took Lucy's hand in her own, turning to the boys and ordering them, "Quickly, everyone hold hands!" 

Peter complied, taking the hand she offered him and turned to Edmund, who screwed up his nose in disgust as he shouted over the wind blowing in their ears, " **I'M NOT HOLDING _YOUR_ HAND!**" 

" **AGH! JUST DO IT, ED!** " Peter yelled back and without waiting for a response, snatched up his younger brother's wrist. 

They turned towards the tracks, eyes searching for where this strange feeling could possibly be coming from. The paved bricks and concrete plates that lined the ceiling began to crack and peel off, disappearing down the tunnel with the train. Susan gasped, pulling Lucy against her protectively and looked around. Nobody else on the platform seemed to notice anything amiss, even as the roof and walls practically tore apart around them. 

"Susan, look!" Peter murmured to her and she turned forward once more to face the windows of the train as it whipped past. The sight of the wall on the other side of the station blinked through the windows. At one point, she could have sworn she saw water, bright cerulean blue on a never ending horizon. 

The train whistled sharply as the final compartment came near and when it disappeared down the tunnel, a blinding light pierced their eyes. 

When the Pevensie siblings opened them once more, they found themselves staring out the mouth of a cave that faced what looked like the shoreline of a beach. One by one, they let go of each others hands and walked forward like their legs weren't their own. 

Susan felt like she was in a dream as the scent of sea salt wafted her senses, and the sand crunched beneath her leather oxfords. The sun warmed her face as she stepped out from the cave and the sound of waves crashing against the shore weaved a sort of peace into her heart that she hadn't felt in months. 

A cautious, disbelieving smile crept onto her lips as she raised a hand to shield her eyes from the bright light in the sky. 

They did it! They were back in Narnia! 

She turned to meet Lucy's gaze and found it twinkling with childish delight, a bright toothy smile stretched across her mouth. Susan's eyes creased at the corners and she giggled softly, taking off into a run for the water with her sister on her heels. The boys barked out in laughter behind them and they raced each other to see who would make it to the shoreline first. 

"Shame you're not as quick as _me_ , Ed!" Peter shouted to his brother as he passed him, tearing off his blazer and throwing it behind him. 

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Lucy called back playfully, flinging off her shoes and socks as she went. 

"If you keep stopping, _you'll_ be the last one!" Susan warned, laughing as she threw her tie over her shoulder. 

" _Watch out!_ Here I come!" Edmund whooped as he jumped over his siblings scattered shoes, running past Susan and making it to the water just before Lucy. 

Peter turned from where he was shrugging off his vest and made as if to shove him but Edmund darted around him with a yelp, staggering to run off in the other direction while Peter made after him. The girls had waded in until the waves dampened their skirts, cupping up the cool water and splashing one another as salt tinged their lips and tongues. 

Their brothers snuck up behind them and sent water crashing into their backs and before they knew it, they were all racing after each other in one big water fight. Susan ran up and down the shore, hoping to tire Peter out before he could come close enough to throw her in while Lucy tried to lure Edmund further out. 

"Ed! _Ed!_ " she called back to him, stopping when she noticed that he was no longer following her. When she looked back over her shoulder, she found him staring up and tilted her head in confusion, "Ed?" 

Peter and Susan noticed that he was no longer enthusiastically joining in and stopped in their game of Cat and Mouse to walk over to him. 

"What is it?" Peter asked, his laughter still lined on his mouth. 

"Where do you suppose we are?" Edmund asked curiously, his eyes scouring the cliffside. 

"Well, where do you _think_?!" Peter drawled sarcastically, grinning at the girls. 

Edmund shook his head, his brows furrowed quizzically as he replied, "Well, I don't remember any ruins in Narnia." 

The others frowned and followed his line of sight up to the cliff where old stone structures rose above them. Susan squinted up at them, trying to make out the design and architecture so that she could associate it with the closest kingdom to them. Maybe closer to the south, somewhere near the border of Archenland? 

Peter's mouth thinned in contemplation before he suggested, "I say we get a closer look. Go to high ground where we might have an easier time trying to figure out where exactly in Narnia we are." 

Edmund nodded in agreement and Peter started forward. The girls quickly gathered up their abandoned clothes and followed after them. They found a path out of the beach, where the sand turned to dirt the higher they trekked. Susan could not help but feel like the very earth beneath her feet had seen her footsteps many times before and she felt at ease as the trees turned flush with green and golden at the roots as they walked past. 

"Does anyone have their sandwiches?" Lucy asked on their way up, standing up on her tippy toes to pluck a bright red apple from one of the low hanging branches, "To tide us over until we find out where everyone is?" 

"Well, I left mine in my bag," Peter replied from where he walked in front of her, his hand reaching out to brace himself against the tree to his right as he turned to face her with a wry smile, "And I left my bag at the train station. And then I left the train station in England." 

Lucy shook her head at him giggling, "Probably should have taken our things with us." 

"I'll remember that for next time." 

The youngest Pevensie grinned before taking a bite out of her apple. Susan and Edmund shook their head at their siblings, the former nudging Lucy out of savoring the taste of Narnian fruit for the first time in a year so that she could continue forward. 

The apple tree orchard finally levelled out to flat land and the first of the stone ruins appeared before them in the form of great pillars and missing archways and what looked to be a courtyard that had grass and weeds growing between the cracks and jagged gaps in the floor. 

The siblings found themselves drifting apart to explore and Susan found herself touching the walls that ran along the overlook of the cliff, feeling surprised every time she would come to a gaping hole where another archway should be. A staircase that she presumed would have led up to another floor of the ancient structure instead ended abruptly and as she looked over, she found herself toeing the edge where the sky dropped to the crashing waves below. 

A certain sadness shadowed these ruins, like they represented a time better than the one in which they lived in now and Susan didn’t know why, but her heart clenched mournfully as she walked back down the stone steps with her hands hovering over the missing bannister. She wondered over to where Lucy stood on what used to be a balcony overlooking the sea. 

Lucy whipped around at hearing her footsteps approach and her brows furrowed in curiosity as she thought out loud, "I wonder who lived here." 

Susan opened her mouth to respond but closed it abruptly when she felt her foot graze against something cool and hard. Stopping in her tracks, she bent at the waist to pick up the shining, golden object between the blades of grass and inspected it in the light. 

It was a golden chess piece, one that summoned from the deep abyss of her mind a memory. 

_Susan sat at a dark wood table in a room with overarching windows of sea glass where the sun shone through and illuminated the dark, mahogany walls in warm colors of blue and green and silver. On the table in front of her was a chessboard, with golden pieces that completed the one she had found. Sitting across from her was an older Edmund, with curly black locks that grazed his dark blue collar._

_A silver crown sat askew on his forehead as he tilted it in contemplation before he plucked up his King and took her Queen, his dark eyes flickering up to her in smugness as he declared, "King takes Queen."_

Susan mouthed the words she had replied with as she clutched the golden piece in her hand. 

" _Only in chess, dear brother, only in chess._ " 

Shock swept through her entire body, causing her fingers to stiffen and cramp as she met Lucy's questioning gaze with her own, deeply troubled by the sudden realization. 

"I think _we_ did." 

Lucy leaned forward to peer at the golden piece, her brows drawn close together as Susan spun it between her fingers as if she could spin away the troubling suggestion that these ruins might have once belonged to them. Edmund and Peter appeared from around a stone archway, curious as to see what the girls might have discovered and the younger of the two brothers started forward when he caught sight of the golden chess piece in his sister's hands. 

"Hey, that's mine!" Edmund pointed confused, coming to stand beside Susan, "From my chess set." 

"Which chess set?" Peter asked, scrunching up his face as he looked at it from over Edmund's shoulder. 

"Well, I didn’t exactly have a _solid gold_ chess set in Finchley, _did I_?" the dark haired boy retorted, sending his brother a look as if it was a stupid question. 

He plucked the piece from Susan's hands and traced the edges and ridged lines of the knight, a wistful smile pulling up the corners of his lips as he remembered how many games of chess he had won with the set, a fact he knew had annoyed Susan as she thought herself the most intelligent of their siblings but had yet to win a single game against him. 

Said sister wasn't thinking much about the games she did not win against her brother but rather of how one of his chess pieces had appeared in the ruins around them. She shared a frown with Lucy, before her sister's eyes moved past her to widen at something over her shoulder and she let out a small gasp. 

"It's can't be!" 

The youngest Pevensie took off before her siblings could question her and Susan rolled her eyes at how familiar it felt to be chasing after her sister once again. Peter ran off after her, and Lucy took hold of his hand, pulling him up stone stairs to stand on what used to be a platform, centered at the end of a great room that was lined with stone pillars on either side. 

"Don't you see?!" Lucy was telling Peter when Susan and Edmund caught up to them. 

"What?" Peter looked around, trying to find what his sister was talking about. 

Lucy let out a huff before pulling him to the middle right of the platform, positioning him so that he was facing the direction they had come from as she told him, "Imagine walls." 

She moved onto do the same to Susan, moving her to Peter's left so that she hovered in front of what used to be a stone seat protruding from the ground, now only two legs that ended in nothingness. Lucy pointed over Susan's shoulder and murmured in awe, "And columns there." 

Edmund moved to stand on the far right of Peter while Lucy took up a place on Susan's other side. Susan felt goosebumps erupt on her skin at the familiar feeling of standing in that order, with the space between them, what must have been a thousand times in the past. 

"And a glass roof." 

She did as Lucy asked and for a second, the ruins transformed into a throne room of gold and marble with a high overarching ceiling lined with glass so that the sun would brighten it by day and the moon by night. Where they were staring at a majestic set of double doors, always open and welcoming to all those that entered, with twin staircases on either side. 

Susan felt her breathe shudder and her fingers climbed up her chest to rest against her beating heart. Edmund's head whipped from his siblings to the remnants of their old home in shock and disbelief. Lucy merely let her eyes roam over the throne room with such sadness that it felt like it would send her little body crumbling to the floor. 

Peter stood tall among them as he whispered in amazement, "Cair Paravel."


End file.
